Aim:This study was designed to evaluate the synergistic activities of hydroalcoholic extracts of medicinal plants Origanum vulgare and Hypericum perforatum and their active components, carvacrol and hypericin against Staphylococcus aureus.Methods:The synergistic effects of the plants, as well as carvacrol and hypericin, were examined using a checkered method against S. aureus (ATCC 12600).Results:A fractional inhibitory concentration of 0.5 was obtained for combination of O. vulgare and H. perforatum and 0.49 for combination of the active ingredients carvacrol and hypericin, both of which indicated a synergistic effect.Conclusion:This preliminary evaluation demonstrated a synergistic property of O. vulgare and H. perforatum extracts in treating S. aureus infection. This study indicates that combination of the plants, as well as combination of carvacrol and hypericin, might be used as a new antibacterial strategy against S. aureus.

R ESEARCHERS have shown an increasing attention to the use of medicinal plants because of their beneficial effect on human health. The antioxidant properties of medicinal plants is a strong reason to use them in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antioxidant properties of Ziziphus nummularia, Crataegus pontica and Scrophularia striata. Aerial parts of Ziziphus nummularia, Crataegus pontica and Scrophularia striata were dried and ground. Then, plant samples were prepared using homogenizing plant powders in methanol solution. Finally, the total antioxidant capacity of the plants was assessed by ferric iron reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay.The results indicated that the total antioxidant capacity was found as 3.16, 2.95 and 1.14 mmol Fe 2+ /L for Ziziphus nummularia, Crataegus pontica and Scrophularia striata, respectively. According to our results, Ziziphus nummularia, Crataegus pontica and Scrophularia striata showed a potent antioxidant activity. It is recommended that utilization of Ziziphus nummularia, Crataegus pontica and Scrophularia striata in food and pharmaceutical industries could possibly possess beneficial health effects.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) or venereal diseases are transmitted through various methods of sexual intercourse (oral, vaginal, and anal). The predisposition to this type of diseases and infections depends on the immunity system of the body, so the lower the immunity system's strength, the greater the risk of Sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The most important pathogenic causes of STIs include bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Phytochemical investigations have shown that medicinal plants are a rich source of antioxidant compounds, biologically active compounds, phenols, etc. They can have an inhibitory effect on germs and infectious viruses and are very important for a variety of parasitic diseases, microbial infections, and STIs. Some of the most important medicinal plants that produce inhibitory effects on the growth and proliferation of pathogenic agents of the STIs were reported in the present article. Based on the results obtained from the review of numerous articles indexed in the databases the Institute for Scientific Information, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, etc., a number of plants have been reported to be used in the treatment and prevention of genital tract diseases and STIs, and to produce antiviral and antimicrobial effects, including have examined the therapeutic and clinical effects of medicinal plants, and the use of their active ingredients to produce herbal drugs has been addressed. The results of phytochemical investigations have shown that the most important compounds of these plants include quercetin,

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T HE survival of organisms is threatened with a variety of pollutants and chemical compounds and population growth. Natural phenomena and human activities, especially industrial activities increase contamination of water, soil and air. Population growth leads to increased exploitation of the sea and oceans, thus the consumption of seafood increases. In addition, the main food of the people in some areas is fish. Consumption of fish has numerous benefits to healthy for humans, but the existence of some heavy metals including lead, cadmium, and etc. may cause toxicity to marine organisms. The degree of heavy metal toxicity depends on their chemical form of metals. Some forms of metals are rapidly excreted and do not have the opportunity to be absorbed and stored in body tissues, accordingly they are not very toxic, while some forms of metals are highly toxic and lethal. These forms are slowly excreted from metals and have the ability to be absorbed and accumulated in fish muscles and other organs. Heavy metals cause harmful effects such as carcinogenesis, malformations, damage to the nervous system, damage to the reproductive system and infertility in men, liver failure and cardiovascular disease and so on. Therefore, in this review focused on concentration of heavy metals in fish muscle is essential to ensure the safety of this type of food.